Exterior of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service building

Questions Remain About FMCS Role After Trump Staff Cuts

The Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service has settled into a new normal after a year of layoffs and court interventions, observers said, but questions persist about what the pared-down version of the agency will mean for the unions and employers that have used its services.

gavel on layer of US currency

Calif. Food Cos. To Pay $900K To End EEOC Harassment Suit

A California produce processing operation has agreed to pay $900,000 to settle a U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission lawsuit alleging higher-ups looked the other way while female employees faced pervasive sexual harassment. 

NYC Delivery Laws Will Stay In Place During Instacart Appeal

Instacart won't be able to block New York City's laws for app-based delivery workers instituting a new minimum wage, tipping options and disclosure requirements while it challenges a federal court's order, a New York federal judge ruled.

Expert Analysis

Limiting Worker Surveillance Risks Amid AI Regulatory Shifts

Liz Aloi and Carrie Cohen

With workplace surveillance tools becoming increasingly common and a recent executive order aiming to preempt stat... (more story)

Justices' BDO Denial May Allow For Increased Auditor Liability

Dean Conway

The Supreme Court's recent denial of certiorari in BDO v. New England Carpenters could lead to more actions filed ... (more story)

Class Actions At The Circuit Courts: January Lessons

Mitchell Engel

In this month's review of class action appeals, Mitchell Engel at Shook Hardy discusses five rulings from October ... (more story)

Labor More

Bread Courier Urges 6th Circ. To Revive Unfair Firing Suit

A former bread deliveryman asked the Sixth Circuit to revive his challenge to his firing and his union's refusal to fight it in arbitration, telling the court that an Ohio federal judge was wrong to wrap up th... (more story)

Trump Admin Can't Gut CFPB Off The Books, DC Circ. Told

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's employee union has urged the full D.C. Circuit to uphold a lower court order blocking sweeping cuts at the agency, arguing the Trump administration's legal theory for... (more story)

A dark wood judge's gavel with a gold band lies on a stack of U.S. one-hundred-dollar bills. The items are set against a dark, textured wood background.
2nd Circ. Upholds NLRB Subpoena Enforcement Order

A New York City businessman must turn over documents relevant to his companies' liability for years of back pay to a fired bus company tour guide after the Second Circuit on Tuesday upheld an order to comply w... (more story)

Axed Mediation Board Member Claims Firing Was Illegal

A former member of the National Mediation Board has sued President Donald Trump and several government officials over her dismissal in October, alleging in a complaint filed in D.C. federal court that she was ... (more story)

5th Circ. Enforces NLRB Order Against NYC Janitorial Co.

A Fifth Circuit panel has enforced a National Labor Relations Board order requiring a New York City janitorial contractor to rehire a longtime cleaner, saying the board reasonably linked the cleaner's 2020 fir... (more story)

Wheeling & Appealing: The Latest Must-Know Appellate Action

What happened to a GOP donor's $250,000 Swiss watch? Can cigarette warnings show jarring medical images? Will a circuit split of "far-reaching importance" for arbitration get even wider? That's a taste of the ... (more story)

Custodians Tell NJ Justices COVID Law Doesn't Preempt CBA

School custodians urged the New Jersey Supreme Court on Monday to reinstate an award of extra money for their in-person work during the pandemic, arguing an arbitrator had a reasonably plausible interpretation... (more story)

Discrimination More

Guam Defends Bid To Appeal Loss Of Military Leave Suit

A retirement fund for Guam government employees fired back at the federal government's attempt to prevent it from appealing an order finding the fund and Guam liable for shortchanging pension contributions for... (more story)

6th Circ. Backs Chemical Co.'s Win In Disability Bias Suit

A Sixth Circuit panel kept a Michigan chemical facility operator's win Tuesday in a former worker's suit claiming that he was fired because of his disability, finding that the worker could no longer perform al... (more story)

Close-up of someone hand trying to call hotel reception by ringing front desk bell
EEOC Slaps Hotel Co. With Pregnancy, Religious Bias Suit

A hotel management company refused to provide a pregnant employee with an adequate chair and pushed a front desk clerk to work Saturday overnight shifts even though that conflicted with his duties as an assist... (more story)

Palm Steakhouse Chain, Black Ex-GC Resolve Race Bias Case

The owners behind The Palm steakhouse chain and a Black former general counsel who said she was fired after being diagnosed with lung cancer have agreed to end her federal race bias lawsuit, according to a Tue... (more story)

ESPN Wants Worker's COVID Vaccine Bias Lawsuit Dismissed

ESPN has asked a judge to dismiss a former remote video operator's religious bias lawsuit stemming from a COVID-19 booster vaccine mandate, saying the onetime worker exaggerated its corporate parent's links to... (more story)

Clorox Settles Male Worker's Gender Bias Suit On Eve Of Trial

Clorox has settled a gender discrimination suit from a former employee who claimed he was fired because the company wanted more women managers, right before the case was set to go to trial and just under a yea... (more story)

Calif. Justices Revive 'Unreadable' Arbitration Agreement Suit

In a 6-1 decision, the California Supreme Court clarified on Monday that courts must "closely scrutinize the terms of difficult-to-read contracts for unfairness or one-sidedness," but the "illegibility" — font... (more story)

Wage & Hour More

NY Drivers Say Uber Misclassifies Them As Contractors

Uber misclassifies drivers in New York as independent contractors, leading to unpaid wages and a lack of reimbursement for car-related expenses, two workers claim in a proposed class action filed in federal court.

Restaurant Can't Include Morning Staff In Tip Pool, Court Says

A steakhouse chain violated tip credit rules by including morning-shift employees in its tip pool even though they primarily worked while the restaurant was closed to guests, a Colorado federal judge has ruled... (more story)

Hands holding $20 bills.
NY County Liable For FLSA Violations, Judge Rules

Saratoga County was aware that its rounding policies led to unpaid wages, a New York federal judge has ruled, granting summary judgment on the issue of liability to a group of more than 100 current and former ... (more story)

Medical Transport Co. Misclassified Drivers, Suit Says

A company that transports radioactive medical materials misclassified drivers as independent contractors, leading to minimum wage and overtime violations, according to a proposed class and collective action fi... (more story)

Jim Henson Co. Accused Of Costing Exec A 'Pinocchio' Oscar

A Jim Henson Co. former employee filed a $7.5 million suit in California state court alleging the entertainment giant wrongfully diminished his executive producer credit and deprived him of an Oscar at the Aca... (more story)

Colo. Music Venue Failed To Pay Full Wages, Ex-Worker Says

A live music venue in Denver failed to pay workers for all hours worked, misclassified them as independent contractors and retaliated against a worker for complaining about unpaid wages, according to a potenti... (more story)

Ill. Judge OKs $3.3M Deal In Mariano's Managers' OT Suit

An Illinois federal judge has approved a $3.3 million settlement resolving a lawsuit by current and former supermarket meat, bakery and deli managers who alleged Kroger subsidiary Mariano's falsely claimed the... (more story)